Can You Make A Wasp Smile?

Introduction

This was a two hundred word piece from my blog Seven Days In, ten years ago. I saw it was getting some tractions so thought I would flesh it out a bit and share it on Vocal.

The music I have included is "Waspman" by the Who, a Keith Moon composition which was the "B" side of the single "Relay".

Can You Make A Wasp Smile?

For some reason, I am posting a lot at the moment. I don't know why it's not as though I have anything interesting to say. But was getting buzzed by a wasp and wondered if it makes them happy that they annoy and frighten people. Although wasp could be WASP, the acronym for White Anglo Saxon Protestant or the 8o's beat combo, famous for the ditty recommending you to be like Doctor Dolittle.

Anyway as the Ape of Wrath (blog now dead but some great articles by my good friend Chris Ball) stated wasps are the insect world's own football hooligans.

I remember as a teenager feeling a sharp pain in the sole of my foot, and looked and there was a wasp on it. That was a very bad place for the wasp to be, especially after it had stung me, shall we say it was not long for this plane?

I do find wasps worrying in enclosed spaces like on a bus, or in the house. I have not been stung for a very long time, but I do know that it hurts.

Often people regard wasps and bees as the same things, buzzing insects that sting, but any sensible person knows that they are not. A bee will only sting when it is threatened, a wasp or hornet will attack you because it can.

One is bad enough but swarms are downright scary. I once saw a column of wasps in Sedbergh, mesmerising and frightening at the same time.

I also saw a similar gathering of wasps outside the railway station at Settle. One sting will be painful, but imagine being stung by a swarm, that could probably kill you.

However, wasps are mere amateurs compared with hornets as this attack in Yorkshire states, when some runners had the temerity to disturb some hornets.

Hornets can be up to 2.2" (5.5cm) in length, so that's a big aggressive insect you don't want to get on the wrong side of.

Anyway, I have been wasp and hornet-free, so I chose a Jonathan Richman song to soundtrack this post, so life is good for me.

Although I chose a Who song to lead this Vocal article this is the Jonathan Richman song I originally included.

Some Internet Definitions

Wasp: any member of a group of insects in the order Hymenoptera, suborder Apocrita, some of which are stinging. Wasps are distinguished from the ants and bees of Apocrita by various behavioral and physical characteristics, particularly their possession of a slender, smooth body and legs with relatively few hairs.

Hornets are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to 5.5 cm

Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea.

Conclusion

Thank you for getting to this point on this piece of the archaeology of my own writing, Seven Days In does reveal the odd treasure, if you can describe my words in that way.